Nowhere
by musicnotes093
Summary: AR to Space Colony. Donald wasn't able to save Leo from being vacuumed out into space when they came to Lithios. Now, with no memory of who he is, his family, and where he came from, he has to cope with starting a new life on Avior with the family who took him in. Drabbles.
1. Drabble 001

**#001**

"Do you remember anything at all?"

He blinks, breathing slowly and carefully less he wants the pain that splits his skull in half to come back again. Half of his body is wrapped in blanket but he's still cold. He's cold and empty, like a lonely house up on the woods on a winter night.

He's so cold.

The father and daughter look at each other. "You must know something," the daughter insists.

"A name, maybe? Perhaps your home?"

Home. Did he have a home?

He rummages his brain for any memories, but soon enough a sharp ache slices through the crevices of his mind and cuts the deed short.

Home. He has a home, maybe. He just doesn't know where.

The father shifts, sympathetic of the boy who looks a lot younger under the light of utmost confusion. He pats him on the shoulder and says, "It's okay. Maybe we'll try again later. You've been through quite a lot. Just recover for now."

He nods though he doesn't know why. As the pair moves to leave, the daughter preceding it with a sigh, a voice that sounds like his own asks, "Where am I?"

The father and daughter stop, look at each other again. "You...don't know where you are?" the father asks.

He shakes his head (only slightly, because too much movement hurts).

"We're in Avior."

Avior. "I don't...think I've heard of this place before."

The daughter shrugs. "You must be from a nearby stellar system. Aludra, maybe?"

"Regulus is closer," her father suggests.

He shakes his head. "None of those sound familiar to me."

The father turns to brooding. Meanwhile, the daughter only says, "Well, a farther planet might make more sense." She looks him over, her focus particularly on his clothes. "You don't look like you're from around here."

"Kara."

"What, Abba? Aren't I right?"

"That's rude." He scans his clothing, too. Despite his intentions, it's clear that he agrees to a degree with his child. "Anyway," he says to him, "are you in need of anything? Food? A different clothing? Something to drink?"

"How did I get here?" he asks, now taking in the small, red clay lodging that serves as a home.

"Aquus and Father were coming back from a visit to a different planet when they found you floating around in space. You've passed out." She points. "You were wearing that as an outer garment."

Following her gesture, he sees a white suit hanging on the pegs on the wall. There's also something at the foot of it, something circular and big.

A helmet, his mind suddenly reminds him. And a space suit.

"A space suit," he mumbles.

The daughter grins. "Oh, is that what that silly thing is?"

"Kara?"

"It's outdated, Abba. Far outdated." She smirks. "It's ancient to our standards."

The father can only sigh. "Do you need it, my child?" he asks their visitor.

Does he need it? Besides the ebbing migraine, he can breathe. He's fine without it as far as he's concerned. "No."

"Now that I see it, I don't think you're from here," the daughter says, frowning thoughtfully. She nods at his shirt. "Alien writing, Abba. None that belongs to any of the nearby stellar systems."

Seeing the other man frown at his clothing, he looks down to see.

D-A, maybe E or F, then N, maybe P, O, R, T.

He pulls his shirt down for a better look.

Davenport.

"Davenport?" he says.

"Is that your name?" the daughter asks.

He thinks about it. Davenport. Him.

Davenport. Him.

He shakes his head. "I don't think so."

"Maybe you were associated with someone named Davenport," the father offers.

He nods, unconvinced. "Maybe."

"Dinner will be in a little," the father says, his joints cracking dully as he stands up. He takes a filling, deep breath then sighs. He smiles at him. "Rest for now. There is no use rushing your mind when all it may want for now is recovery. You barely had any air in your containment garment when we found you. It's amazing that you're even alive. Don't rush it for now. You have time."

"Yes. Until Aya comes back."

"Kara, what did I—" He watches as the girl, barely even an adolescent yet at this point, scuttles out of the room giggling.

"Who is Aya?"

The father smiles a weary smile at him. "My oldest daughter. She's about the same age as you," he says. "She's a huntress."

A huntress. He nods again though he does not understand.

"Rest well, um..."

He looks at his host, sorry that he cannot provide him even the basic courtesy of his name.

The father smiles. "We'll let that be for now," he says. He steps out of the room then says, "Rest well, my child. It'll be better when you awaken."

He watches as he leaves.

As the flames upon the smaller torches in the room weaken (how does that happen?), he lies back down. He still feels weak from whatever ordeal he has gone through. This makes him feel rather hopeless and helpless, this not remembering. In these moments, he realizes how important knowledge actually is to maintain some balance in his waking hours.

He closes his eyes and breathes in the air. It comes in pure and a little salted, charged with something thick and earthy that can only be the red clay making up the walls.

Sleep. He must go back to sleep.

_No!_

He wakes up after the deafening sound of air, vacuuming out past him into nothingness, rings in his ears. He looks around, making sure it wasn't because a hole has suddenly appeared on the ceiling to suck him out.

But he finds nothing. Just the low flames of the fires flickering softly, dancing deftly in the dark.

He closes his eyes again, but warily this time.

Whose voice was that? It wasn't his, that's for certain. But whose was it?

As he ebbs into slumber, stars begin to fill the darkness. They're all so far away, he thinks. He feels some satisfaction in that because coming too close to a star will set him ablaze.

He's far, that's good.

But he's lonely, too.

So, so lonely.

_We have to fix it..._

Fix what?, he wonders. _It's the same voice._

_Hold on!_

_We're going on a vacation!_

_Adam..._

Who's Adam? Is it him?

_Chase, don't ruin this for us._ There's the memory of a boy with dark brown hair, his back on him.

He turns around, but before he sees his face the memory goes away.

_Honey, you'll be okay, right?_ The voice of a woman asks him next. He sees her come close to embrace him then she says, _I know it's kind of scary, having a new dad. But he's nice. He loves us both._

So he has a mother, and probably a father.

But who is he? And who are the people he sees in these flashes before his dream?

_No!_

It's the same man again, his voice rising feebly above the loud sound of air gushing through. He's the same one who told him to hold on.

But he's tired, so tired.

_Sleep well, my baby._

So he lets go and allows the universe to take him in its embrace.


	2. Drabble 002

_Okay, real briefly: thank you to the nice readers who favorited and put an alert to the story :)_

**_AlienGhostWizard14 - _**_Thank you for the review, man. I think I already replied to your comment, but thanks again._

**_NaguraFlames -_**_ Thank you. Hopefully you'll get to enjoy the ride. The updates would be sporadic and not regular (been learning recently that the inspiration comes better when I'm not hurrying myself for them), but I'll work to make sure they're worth the wait. As for now, besides OC/OC pairings, there are no others. But then again you never know with me haha_

**_elenahochbaum -_**_ Thanks! Sure thing._

* * *

**#002**

"I still hear them."

Aya pauses from reading the information on the parchment to look at him.

_Him._ The boy lying on the Imaging and Topographic Scanner has been with them for nearly three rohs now, and he still doesn't have a name. She does feel bad for him, which is something new considering she's more suspicious of newcomers. He doesn't talk much and usually seems hesitant.

Thrice, she thinks, she's caught him bolting up in bed after being plagued by perhaps the same nightmare he's had.

Her father has told her of the circumstances the night she came back home. Almost dead when he and Aquus found him, he said – this new child. No recollection whatsoever of what happened before or how he ended up in the vacuum that is the vast nothingness out there. No recognition of the place.

No possession save for the clothes on his back and the containment unit that her little sister kept calling outdated.

Nothing. He has absolutely nothing, except for those nightmares.

"Lie still," Aya instructs him, inputting the information needed on the keypad. "It'll take a few minutes. You'll be cold for a little bit, but it shouldn't last long."

He says nothing. He only does what she told him to and stares at the ceiling with the same look of loss and dispossession she's seen in his eyes since the first time they've met.

Her father had thought they were around the same age, but even without the healers' estimation, she knew he'd been wrong. The boy must only be a few nens older than Kara. Five, maybe, or six.

_He's still at the age where he needs his parents._

She had brought this up to her father, and he had agreed sadly. He has a family out there. He must have. Who knows? They might come take him back soon.

But night after night, no one comes. No family, no friends. Not even his memory.

So for the longest, he's just been referred to as _him_. Or _he_.

Sighing, Aya sits on a chair opposite the cot, watching his unchanging expression even when the glass slab beneath him glows. She thinks she should smile, even a small one, but thought the better of it. Smiling at him won't change his current lot in life. "What do they say?"

"Who?"

"The people in your dreams. You say you still hear them."

He doesn't say anything, and for a while she thinks he has tired of the topic now and don't want to answer anymore. But then, he answers, "Different things. I only hear them in my dreams. There are five of them, I think. Or maybe just three. It differs all the time."

The I.T.S beeps. Aya gets up, presses RELEASE SCAN, and then gets back on her seat while the first results print. She crosses her legs and leans a little forward. "You didn't answer my question," she lightly presses.

He turns his head slightly, perhaps to look at her, but changes his mind.

A small smile pulls at her lips; he realized he shouldn't move. "Just a few more minutes," she says.

Again, he says nothing. He only blinks. She thinks he shivered a little. "'Fix it,'" he says.

The smile slowly slides off her face. "I'm sorry?"

"'Fix it,'" he repeats. "'We have to fix it.' Those are the things he always tells me. He's telling me to fix it."

Aya's brows rise. "A man is telling you to fix it."

He hums in confirmation.

"Do you remember at all what it is that he wants fixed?"

"No," he says. "All I remember is that right after that, I hear air. Rushing? It's always pulling me out."

"Pulling you out? Into space?"

He says nothing, only stares at the ceiling as if he's seeing everything play out up there. "He never calls my name," he says. "None of them do."

The I.T.S beeps again. A click follows it this time. Then, the gears in the machine whir gracefully into silence.

Aya gets up. "All done," she says. She clicks the SCAN COMPLETE button on the keypad, and it causes the light on the glass to lower. "Thank you. You can start moving again now."

He sits up on the cot, swinging his feet back to the ground while Aya pushes the RELEASE SCAN button on the keypad one last time. He stares at his bare feet, once again consumed by his own thoughts, and waits.

"I'll give this to Elyssius. They'll share with us their findings as soon as they finish. I'm guessing in two days time," Aya tells him.

He nods, says nothing.

It saddens her a little to see that. From the skills she's learned as a huntress, she can tell that he's normally—whatever normal was for him before all of this—a person who enjoys to talk. She sees that inclination whenever they sit around the table for dinner, whenever Kara playfully teases him, and whenever their father takes him around their village to introduce him to neighbors and the technology that makes their civilization run.

He's bright and curious, brimming with so many questions and teeming with thoughts of his own about things.

But he's in a strange land with a number of admittedly hostile people.

To a placeless, friendless, and connectionless person like him, speech is a resource that's too terrifying to spend.

Aya sits down on the chair opposite him, and this time she justifies a small smile. She looks him in the eye as he stares at her blankly. For a moment, she's reminded of Kara when she was three and she told her that she's going to be her older sister now. "Are you still waiting for them?" she asks him.

He blinks. A soft smile comes to his face soon after. Aya decides it's a much better look on him than the look of loss. "I can't wait for anyone who I can't remember," he says.

She nods. "You're right," she says, eyes detachedly scanning the floor. She and her father have talked about what's going to happen to their guest a couple of times. She knows what her father wants to do. However, as his nature is when it comes to things like this, he's a little too shy to ask the boy directly.

It was different with Kara, he said, and that's true. Her little sister had been brought to their doorstep by a desperate midwife who her father knew very well. The boy had been dragged from the sure death of outer space.

Kara was barely three when her father told her she would be part of their family.

The boy is probably seventeen or eighteen.

But Aya knows that despite the fear, deep down, her father is thrilled with the idea of having a boy in their family. He's proud of his daughters, and he believes they're strong and capable, but a young man—a young man he can help mentor better.

Plus, if she remembers correctly, her mother said long before she passed away that her father's always been curious about having a son.

"I can walk home if we're done," he says, getting on his feet.

"You know how to?"

He nods. "I memorized it. Ezra told me I should make a habit of doing that so I'll never get lost."

She chuckles. Of course he would. She nods at the cot. "Sit down. I have something to ask you."

He's confused at first, his feet shuffling with uncertainty beneath him. Eventually, as he's always done, he listens and takes a seat.

She takes a deep breath first then says, "Besides the difficulty in breathing, do you feel Avior is a good place?"

His eyes shift as the gears of his mind turns. He nods. "Yeah."

She nods in turn. "Kara's teasing. It doesn't bother you much?"

He shakes his head.

"You don't think she's doing it out of spite?"

He shakes his head again. "It doesn't seem like it to me."

She nods, a smile curling at an edge of her lips. "I agree. I happen to think she likes you," she says. She sits up. "We haven't known each other for very long, but I'm confident that you're aware of the fact that I'm not one to skip around the thorns when it comes to things. You may or may not already know this, but we've been asking around whenever we're off in our expeditions about you. We've been asking people of other planets if they know of a boy who's gotten lost during a trip out."

He smiles sadly. "They said no."

She nods, once again impressed by his strong intuition. "Father...still wants us to see if we can find your family and friends," she says. "He wants us, in about two rohs, to go out to Garisen and ask."

"Garisen is really far away."

She nods. "It is."

"Avior's supplies are only enough to get everyone through," he adds. "An expedition that far will cost significant resources."

She nods again. "Father says Garisen might be willing to trade with us. You know, offset what we take, but for the most part I think he wants to make sure we've made a clean sweep of our star system, making sure he finds your home."

He takes those in and withdraws to his own thoughts. On his face, she sees worry then sadness then fear then pity. At times they overlap. She sees curiosity in his eyes, but instead of question, he says, "I think he should call it off."

"Call it off?"

"Avior only has enough. Going to Garisen even when we're not sure is a gamble." He looks at her straight in the eyes, determined. "Especially if really the only reason we'll be there is because of me. Not for me. I can just..."

In his eyes she sees. She sees the spiteful words whispered from ear to ear behind her father's back. She sees the mean and awful glances they throw the boy whenever he passes them on the road. She sees what many thinks of him and of her father.

He's another stomach to fill in this planet that's only ever had enough. He's not even one of us, one of her fellow hunters had said.

She's beaten that thought out of him, of course, but she doesn't know that she could do it to the rest who feels the same as he does.

"Of course. You're always welcome to stay with us," she tells him.

He sighs. "But I know—"

"Avior's always had enough for everyone. Always," she assures him. "I agree with what you said, though. I don't think we should go to Garisen, especially when the harvest is still some time off."

"Okay."

"I think we should prepare for the trials. We've got a number of healers, hunters, and scholars retiring next nen. We need new ones."

He smiles. "Kara told me she's excited for it. She said she wants to be a huntress like you."

A smile comes up to her face unbidden. "So she's been telling me," she says. She looks at him. "The more participants we have in the trials, the better."

He nods. "I guess so."

"You're trying out with Kara, aren't you?"

He chuckles. "Aya, I could barely read the lettering system of Avior. It's still a little difficult for me to breathe, and I barely know what I'm made of. I don't think I'm qualified."

She shrugs. "I don't think you're qualified either, but only because during registration, you have to tell them whose family you're under," she says. She smirks upon seeing the smile on his face vanish. She lightly kicks the point of his left shoe and says, "Us. You'll register under us."

He shifts uncomfortably.

It hurts her a little to see him hesitate. Just why, she doesn't know. "Is it because you want to wait for your family?"

He shakes his head. "I just...I think it's a little embarrassing," he says. "Your dad took me in, took care of me. He's taking on trash talk because of me. I feel like I'm abusing it, your kindness. I'm not even an Aviori."

"Last time somebody brought that up, he ended up with a broken nose and a busted lip. I also ended up with a three-day suspension," Aya says. She leans forward and tells him firmly, "Father does not care what you are. Kara and I don't care either. Look, if I'm to be honest, I don't know when or even if anyone will show up for you. From the evidence we have, I doubt you came from any of the nearby stellar systems. We don't know when your family will show up."

"I'm not waiting for anyone."

Aya blinks, surprised.

"The voices, they only live in my dreams. When I'm awake, I know that's all they'll ever be: voices. Even if they did show up, whoever they are, I doubt I'll even know them."

Her father has warned her about her frankness, and now she regrets to have forgotten it. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

He shakes his head. "It's okay."

It isn't, she thinks, but she doesn't say. Instead, she says, "Well, will we be acceptable as your family for now? Father and Kara and me? Will that be okay? Can we take you in?"

He stares at her, surprised. "You want to adopt me?"

Aya shrugs, smirking. "Father seems to like you, and Kara does, too."

"But you're suspicious of me."

"Which gives you something to prove," Aya says. She takes a deep breath. "You don't have to give me an answer for now. Go home, think about it, and let me know, preferably before the trials. That way, Father and I can work on it."

He says nothing, only thinks. He gets up, his limbs slightly slowed down by the things overturning in his head, and walks to the door.

Aya gets up, too. She heads to where the scans have come out then collects the images.

"Aya?"

She turns around.

He's frowning, thoroughly conflicted. "Do...do I have to wait?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do I have to take time to think about it? Can't I give you an answer now?"

The frown on her face clears. "You have one already?"

He nods, the tempest on his face lifting. "Yes," he says. "That's my answer. If it's okay with Ezra, then yes."

She nods. She turns around, not wanting him to see the grin on her face. "Help Kara with setting up dinner, will you? Father and I particularly liked the stew you made two nights ago," she says, stacking the images. "I'll see you soon."

He hesitates at the door, but eventually leaves.

Aya turns around when he's gone. She leans on the counter, grabs a folder to put the images in, and then smiles. "What do you know, Mother?" she murmurs, thinking of her. "Father's getting a son after all."

* * *

_roh/s = month/s_

_nen/s = year/s_

_to skip around the thorns = to dance around the issue_


	3. Drabble 003

_**elenahochbaum, **__thank you for your review! It was much appreciated_ :)

* * *

**#003**

The air in the room reeks of the thick, rich scent of condescension and unbridled superiority. Aya has warned him of this last night. Scholars, she said, are by nature arrogant little pricks who feel that they are the answer to every problem Avior ever had.

They're bred this way, she said, and as annoying they could be, sadly they do have the brains to show for their pride.

He had asked her why she and Ezra had strongly suggested that he try out for the scholar position. _Because you're different,_ she said – and not in the way the parents of these other children probably told them they're different. _What's brain without a heart? From this past nen that I've known you, I think you do have the heart._

He takes a seat at a desk near the back and observes. As Ezra expected, there are mostly young men his age there, speaking and laughing in their pre-built small groups. Some are reading literature, perhaps to appear qualified for this before the trials even begin.

Out of the twenty-three candidates, there are four young women in there, two of which are absolutely ignored by the rest of the populace.

He turns when another candidate comes in, slightly wheezing and panicked. The boy takes the empty seat to his left, and then sighs of relief. "I thought I wasn't going to make it," he mumbles to himself.

He smiles. "Seems like you really booked it coming here," he says.

The boy looks at him, surprised at first. "'Booked it'?" he asks.

He thinks about it a moment. It's been one of those things that happens more frequently now. He remembers expressions and random things out of the blue (none of which are truly beneficial) for no apparent reason. "You ran," he clarifies.

"Oh." He nods then grins sheepishly. "In that case, I did. I did book it."

He nods in return as he powers his desk on.

"I've seen you around town with Chief Ezra. What's your name?"

Name. He smiles as he remembers the one his new family chose, the one that Ezra came across and Kara approved. "Ellis," he says. "You?"

"Sirius. I'm of the Callara."

"Nice. Nice to meet you, Sirius."

"You as well, Ellis."

The room shifts immediately when Aquus comes in with Marren and another scholar whose name he can't remember. The candidates sit up, eyes ahead, as if they're learning a very important lesson at that moment.

Aquus' eyes sweep around the room in a hard, calculating gaze. It softens slightly when he finds what he needed to find. "I am impressed. Usually, we have to wait a little while for everyone to show up. This tera is looking better already."

Ellis chuckles a little at that; it _was_ meant to provide levity. It unsettles him to see straight and even nervous expressions, though. Only about four of them responded appropriately.

"Right. Let's begin. As you can see around you, the trial for being a scholar isn't as...populated as the ones for hunters."

_No kidding,_ Ellis thinks. The Sand Cage was filled to the brim with both candidates and spectators. It was a great deal louder, too.

The Observatory, where their trials are set, only has the candidates and the scholar delegation.

"...will not be easy. As a scholar, if you become one, you are entrusted to provide solution for Avior's inhabitants. To keep moving forward, we must have the brightest minds." A small smirk pulls at Aquus' lips—one that's terribly unfamiliar to Ellis after seeing him countless of times pining for Aya when she wasn't looking. "That you are here must mean that you trust you have the ability for it."

A hand comes up.

"Yes?"

"What will the delegation do with candidates who can't even read basic Aviori letters?"

Students turn in their seat to look at Ellis – not that they even need to do that; he already knows it's directed towards him. "Probably the same thing they're going to do to candidates who were dropped on their heads as babies," he says.

A few of the students giggle. In his periphery, he can see Sirius grinning, doing his best not to break out in laughter.

"Quiet. Please," Aquus asks. He shoots Ellis a look of disappointment before asking the other candidate, "What is your name?"

"Janus. Sa'handi. I'm confident of my abilities enough that I don't need the reputation of the great Chief to precede me."

Ellis scoffs. _This kid has problems._

"There is no need to resort to things like this," Marren says. "It will not help your chances any to discredit your fellow candidates."

The candidate only glances at her then turns his sights on Aquus.

Based on that, Ellis can tell that this overly righteous prick don't hold the female scholar's statement to be of any value.

"She is right," Aquus says in support of her. "It will not help your chances any to do things like this. Now, let's continue. For your first test, we would like to see your ability to solve new, intricate puzzles. Scholar Ybrra will be passing down the blocks."

The attention of the candidates is divided between listening to Aquus' further instructions and accomplishing the task of passing back the blocks. Ellis catches a few words from the scholar, such as 'similar patterns together,' 'twist,' 'not timed,' and 'do not expect to finish.' By the time a block reaches him, Aquus is already asking if there are any further questions.

Sirius raises his hand.

"Yes."

"Can you please repeat the instructions? I – I was a little distracted by the blocks. I apologize."

Once again, the tide of pride and disdain rises like high winds inside the room.

Aquus sighs. "Right. I guess I should have waited," he murmurs. "All right. Your objective is to make sure that smaller block with similar patterns are on the same side together. As you can see, the blocks can be twisted by..."

The attention of the room is once again divided—this time from Aquus to the opening of the doors behind them.

Aquus frowns at first out of confusion. Then, "Chief Ezra."

"Senri," Ezra greets with a smile.

"Huntress Aya," Aquus greets. Even from the distance he sits, Ellis can see the scholar's pupils dilating at the sight of her. "Is anything of the matter?"

"No, no. Of course not. Just..." Ezra's smile grows when he finds his boy in the crowd. "We just wanted to watch the preliminaries and be of support. That is still allowed, correct?"

"Yes, Chief. Of course," Marren replies warmly.

"Great."

With Avior's highly respected chief sitting in, the feel in the room considerably changed. It's charged with determination now to prove themselves even more worthy. With the exception of Marren, the delegation seems to be more on their feet as well.

"Right. Let's resume," Aquus says. He picks up the block from the desk behind him. "This is how you can move this around..."

Ellis understands the rules for the most part. He even knows what the sides are. What he doesn't understand, though, is why the block looked familiar. He has never seen it in his entire stay in Avior. Why does it feel like I know this? he wonders.

"As mentioned, you will not be timed. Whenever you want to quit is when you stop," Aquus repeats. "We just want to have an idea of your thinking process. Your desks are set to begin recording you at my cue."

Janus raises his hand again.

"Yes, Candidate Sa'handi."

"What if we finish early?"

Marren and Ybbra exchange glances, both equipped with smirks. A similar expression rises on Aquus' face. "If you do, you are free to leave. You will be done for the day and will be contacted in a few days' time regarding whether you will advance to the next test."

The boy says nothing, only holds onto the cube.

Having received a signal from her superior, Marren steps up. "On your marks, candidates. Ready. Begin."

The candidates' worlds shrink towards the blocks in their hands. A good number of them mentally calculate their plan of attack. Some, meanwhile, rely more on their own tactics as they move the rows and columns around.

Ellis, for a moment, looks at the smaller blocks that make up the cube. Six sides, each side with nine smaller squares. One side will be made up of purple lystors, the other of white Night Shells, still another of pink carnation. The other three seem to be of their corresponding leaves.

_Why do you look so familiar? _

Deciding to speak to Aya about that later, he begins moving the blocks. He twists and twists and twists them – clockwise, counter clockwise. Sides that makes sense and not. He checks his work once in a while, instinct kicking in every few turns or so telling him either that the pattern he's seeing is wrong or that he's going at the right direction. Then, he continues again.

Nearly ten minutes after they begin, he finishes. He checks his work, sees that all are in correct order, and then raises his hand.

Aquus nods at him. "Yes, Candidate Erid."

"I'm done."

The room stills at that.

"You're done?"

He raises his block to show him.

Confused, Aquus comes closer to check. Marren, Ybbra, and most of the other candidates turn to see, too.

Aquus checks the block, double checks, triple checks.

Lystors, Night Shells, Carnations. Narrow leaves, long leaves, small, circular leaves. "You're done," Aquus says, not believing it even as he says it.

Ellis nods. Unbeknown to him, Ezra smiles in pride behind him. "May I go now?"

"Yes. Yes, you may – you may go."

"He must have cheated."

It doesn't surprise him anymore to see from whom that came from. "We're all of us just seeing this now. How could I have cheated?" he asks.

Janus shrugs. "I don't know. You could have had a look last night and planned everything."

He chuckles. "You are one desperate kid, you know that?"

Janus ignores him. "I request for the delegation to challenge his result," he tells Ybbra.

"Yeah, that's not making you look desperate at all," he notes as Ybbra and Marren glance at each other.

Aquus, reading what his fellow scholars think, rejoins them in front of the room. In a small huddle, they discuss their next plan of action, every once in a while gazing puzzled at his work.

Reading their lips (a skill Aya has taught Kara and him), he catches words such as 'merit,' 'explanation,' and 'wouldn't hurt.'

"Ellis," Aquus calls then waves him in front. "Can you come up here, please?"

With dozens of eyes now focused on him, he walks up to the delegation.

From the box where the other blocks came from, Aquus picks up another one then hands it to him. "Please work on the block again."

"What? I just finished the one you gave me!"

"I understand, but the delegation would like to see what your method was of accomplishing it."

"You really think I cheated."

"Ellis, remember: you are still a candidate. We set the rules." Aquus pushes the block to him. "Work on a block again."

Ellis huffs, snatching it from him. He looks up at Ezra and Aya to see if they understand the injustice and humiliation he had just been subjected to. From Ezra's nod, encouraging him to just continue instead, he sees that they had.

Again, he looks at the cube's sides. He's mad, _really_ mad, but he needs to at least try to focus. He's so sick of these people who always question the things he does. They question even his desire to do good towards them.

Eventually, he grows to the same rhythm he had earlier. Twist, twist, turn. Flip this side, switch that side. Music plays in his head, the tune Ezra plays with his prized wind instrument on nights he can't sleep. Kara says that Aya's mother used to play it for Ezra when he can't sleep. When she died, Ezra had to play it himself.

More than a nen since he came to Avior, the people are still badmouthing the chief when he isn't looking. _How can he stand these people? _Ellis thinks. _They're so mean and vicious._

Five minutes later, he finishes the block. He hands it to Aquus. When he sees the surprise and confusion on the delegation's faces, he asks, "So may I go now?"

"Uh, yes. Yes, you may go."

He leaves them, glaring at Janus as he walks past his desk. On his way up the stairs, he gives Sirius a 'see you later' nod. Ezra and Aya surround him as the three of them walk out of the stunned Observatory. "Overconfidence will get you nowhere," Aya tells him once they are outside.

"Oh, it's not overconfidence, Aya. It's natural talent," Ezra says.

Ellis smiles as the chief claps a hand on his shoulder. The expression doesn't stay on for very long, however.

A twistable cube, colored differently on every side. One that Avior has never seen before but felt so familiar in his hands.

It wasn't talent. It was memory.

_Should I tell them?_ he wonders. But with the proud grin on Ezra's face and the shadow of satisfaction on Aya's, he decides against it.

* * *

_tera_= batch  
_Senri_ = title given to the head of the Scholars


End file.
